One Single Moment
by Meridas
Summary: Death by extermination was always the worst for Jack. And he hadn't realized that it could happen to Gwen and Ianto before he could keep his promise. One-shot after DW 'Journey's End'


_Disclaimer: Torchwood and related characters, setting, etc, belongs to the BBC or whoever owns it now, which unfortunately isn't me. This is set after Doctor Who Journey's End (some spoilers), upon Jack's return to Cardiff. Rated for some swearing, very light implications of sex and mentions of character death (it's Jack, c'mon...)_

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Jack bounded down the stairs, growing more and more anxious. Both lifts were down, there was dust in the air — the whole world was shaken up, so what would the state of the Hub be? It was one of the strongest structures in the world, of course: it had to be, what with the Rift manipulator based right in the center… Jack reached the bottom of the stairs, and stopped dead.

Dalek. That, right there in front of him, that was the smoking shell of a god damned _Dalek_. In the Hub. In front of the wide-open cog door. Still smoldering, shrapnel scattered across the concrete floor in a way he recognized only too well. This explosion was the one that the Doctor had engineered from the Crucible. Torchwood hadn't brought down this Dalek.

Ianto and Gwen hadn't killed it.

Had they survived it?

"Ianto!" Jack shouted, hurtling past the remains of the alien killer into his Hub, his home. "Gwen! Ianto! Answer me!"

"Jack!"

He whirled around, his eyes finding the source of the Welsh accent in the uncertain light of the Hub. His breath left him in a rush of relief as Gwen clattered down the steps and threw her arms around him. He hugged her tightly, not taking his eyes off Ianto as he followed Gwen more calmly down the stairs.

"Thank god you're alright," Gwen exclaimed. "Okay, good, we're all okay…" she beamed at her two coworkers and best friends, still riding the high of such a success. "Oh! Listen, I swear I'll help with the cleanup tomorrow, but seriously, Jack, I need to get home to Rhys…"

"Yeah," Jack agreed immediately. "Go home, make sure everyone's alright."

"Thank you," Gwen beamed. She gave him and Ianto each another tight hug, then ran off, skirting around the Dalek husk behind the cog wheel.

Ianto moved forward and took Jack's coat with practiced ease. "You alright?" he murmured, moving toward Jack's office to hang the garment up.

"Yeah, I am." Jack followed, and leaned against the door frame, eyeing Ianto closely. Calm and collected, but that was Ianto all over. Jack was astonished to see that he'd even loosened his tie. Satisfied for the moment, Jack turned to survey the damage the movement of the planet had caused his Hub. "You guys do okay?" His eyes landed on the remains of the deadliest creation in the universe, and an involuntary shudder wracked his frame.

"Yeah," Ianto replied calmly. "Bit of a scare with the Dalek, but…" he gave a small, rather sad smile. "Tosh to the rescue, really. Remember that defense system she was working on, the time-lock? Apparently she got it finished, and never got a chance to tell us. But it worked like a charm."

Jack managed to raise his eyebrows. "Nice. So all those bullet casings on the floor…"

Ianto went slightly red. "It was Gwen's idea — but c'mon, Jack, of course we'd try to go out fighting…"

Jack's blood ran cold at those words. Go out fighting. Go out. Go down. Die. He had left them, taken the biggest god damned gun they had, the only one which could hurt a Dalek, and he had run off after the Doctor… and left Ianto and Gwen with no choice except to try to die fighting.

He'd had to find the Doctor. Had to help him. They all had, Rose had crossed _universes _for Christ's sake... _But I bet she didn't leave her family behind with nothing but a promise so empty it could've been a lie. _Jack's sudden, bitter thought surprised him; then he remembered the tight, brave smiles Gwen and Ianto had given him, how he'd repeated "_I'm coming back"_ as if by saying it twice he could make all three of them believe it...

Was he ever going to make a decision that he wouldn't, at some point, regret?

Jack heard his name said again, and realized that he was staring at the Dalek husk. He dragged his gaze back to Ianto, and without warning reached out and pulled him closer. Without saying a word, Jack cupped one hand around the back of Ianto's head, running his fingers lightly through the short, silky hair. Ianto wound his arms around Jack in return, holding him close enough that Jack could feel Ianto's heartbeat against his chest. "It's alright now, Jack," the soft Welsh voice murmured. "It's alright this time, cariad."

Jack closed his eyes, letting the words and the voice sink into his skin, reassuring and warm. He'd heard the Welsh endearment before — but never directed at him. He wasn't a hundred percent sure Ianto had meant to say it, either, so he didn't let on that he knew what it meant, that he had even heard it. Instead he simply nuzzled into Ianto's neck, pressed his lips to the hollow of his throat. Ianto's hands moved up his back and threaded into Jack's hair, bringing his face up to Ianto's. Jack met those beautiful blue eyes briefly — and instead of brooding over how easily the light could have been snuffed out of them, he kissed Ianto's lips, leading them both into familiar, welcome territory.

Ianto made a slight resistance when Jack pulled him toward his bunker, but it didn't take much effort to convince him that clearing up the Hub could wait. Not nearly the effort that it would have taken, if they hadn't both danced the line of life and death that day. Jack hadn't told Ianto that he'd died again on the Crucible — extermination, no less. Speaking objectively, it wasn't the worst way to die; but it was the worst for Jack. Absolutely the worst ever. Always like his very first death, the one that would have been final. Extermination made him feel cold as ice and infinitely alone when he woke up.

Luckily, Ianto didn't need to hear it. Jack wasn't sure if Ianto ever actually _knew_ for fact — but the young man could definitely sense those times when Jack needed to be warm, and to be reminded that he wasn't alone. Tomorrow would be a hell of a day as Torchwood tried to do its part in picking up the pieces, but for now everything that Jack needed was right here, right now. To forget death, forget fear, forget pain, all they could do was surrender themselves to one single, timeless moment. In the back of their minds they always knew it couldn't last. But sometimes, like tonight, they could let everything else go, and just feel like one single moment could be endless.

_~fin~_


End file.
